This invention relates to a connection device and test system for sending an electrical signal to electrodes through contact terminals in contact with matching electrodes and implementing testing, such as pass/fail tests of items for inspection, such as semiconductor devices. The invention relates in particular to a connection device and test system to prevent harm or wear to the items under test, such as semiconductor devices having numerous pin type electrodes disposed at a narrow pitch.
A method is known for testing electrical characteristics of semiconductor devices, such as VLSI devices, at the wafer level with a conventional thin-type probe card, as disclosed in the lecture archives of the 1988 Annual International Test Conference on Membrane Probe Card Technology, from pages 601 to 607 (hereafter Publication 1). In this conductive test probe as described in Publication 1, wiring was formed by lithography on a flexible dielectric film, and a semi-spherical bump, formed by plating in a through-hole of dielectric film formed at a position matching the electrodes of the semiconductor device-for testing, was utilized as the contact terminal. In the test method described in this Publication 1, the bump, which is connected to the testing circuit by way of the wiring substrate and wiring formed on the surface of the dielectric film, was caused to rub against the electrode of the semiconductor device under test to make contact by a spring effect, and testing was then implemented by an exchange of electrical signals.
Other known methods are described Japanese Laid-Open Patent 2-163664 (hereafter Publication 2), Japanese Laid-Open Patent 5-243344 (hereafter Publication 3), Japanese Laid-Open Patent 8-83824 (hereafter Publication 4), Japanese Laid-Open Patent 8-220138 (hereafter Publication 5), and, Japanese Laid-Open Patent 7-283280 (hereafter Publication 6).
In Publication 1 as well as Publications 2, 3, 4 and 5, a testing method is disclosed using a probe device with an automatic offset function having a conveyor means (structure with a lower conductive stage to receive an upper conductive stage installed on a pivot) to make spring contact with a support means to basically form a joint level surface between the flat membrane probe and an essentially flat device under test.
Further, a method is disclosed in the Publications 2, 3, 4 and 5 which proposes to install a cushioning material between the lower conductive stage and the membrane.
Also, in the Publication 5, a method is disclosed for use of a micro-strip line achieved by low-impedance and impedance matching by installing and grounding a metallic conductive layer on the reverse side of a thin conductive pattern formed on a metal protuberance.
Also, in the Publication 6, a method is disclosed for use of a probing device wherein a contact terminal shaped with a point at the tip, obtained by etching a crystalline mold material of anisotropic shape, is connectably embedded in a lead out wiring formed from an insulator film, and this insulator film encloses the silicon wafer forming the substrate and cushioning layer forming a single unit with respect to the wiring substrate.
As described in the above Publication 1, the contact point (protuberance on the electrode) of the probe formed from a flat or semi-spherical bump makes a friction contact, rubbing away the oxidation on the material of the device under test created by a rubbing contact (scribing action) from the aluminum electrode or solder electrode of the probe contact point, and the oxidation is also rubbed away from the electrode material surface to make contact with the conductive metal material at the lower surface. As a result, the scribing action of the electrode at the contact point creates debris from the electrode material causing electrical shorts between the wiring or wiring layers or creating foreign matter. The electrode in many cases is subjected to further damage and wear by the scribing (rubbing) action of the probe which applies a weight of several hundred mN to assure contact with the electrode.
The methods of Publication 2 through Publication 5 have a function for allowing the contact point group to make contact in parallel with the surface of the electrodes of the device under test; however, this structure applies a contact load by displacement of a plate spring so that the spring plate is greatly displaced in terms of a uniform load, making application of a load of several hundred mN per pin necessary when making contactxe2x80x94Consequently, this load creates the problem of damage and wear on the electrodes of the device under test as well as on the active device and wiring directly beneath those electrodes and related problems occurring due to this damage and wear.
In the method of Publication 6, a problem occurs in that absorbing height differences in the contact terminal and electrodes of the device under test, or absorbing the impact received by the contact terminals from driving the material mount holding the device under test during probing, just by means of the cushioning layer is difficult and may also create possible wear and tear on the device under test such as a semiconductor device.
Therefore, none of the known techniques as described above, allows for low load, stable probing devices under test, such as semiconductor elements having many pins disposed at a narrow pitch caused by high density, without causing damage or wear.
This invention has the object of providing a connection device and test system that eliminates the problems of the prior art and is capable of low load, stable probing of devices under test having numerous pins with A narrow pitch and high density, such as semiconductor elements, without causing damage, and is further capable of sending high speed electrical signals namely high frequency electrical signals.
This invention has the further of providing a connection device and test system that applies a light load using only downward pressure from the pointed tip of the contact terminal onto the electrodes of the device under test without generating debris, such as from the electrode material, thereby to achieve a stable connection with low resistance.
This invention has the still further object of providing a connection device and test system wherein a contact terminal having a pointed tip and the lead wiring are formed separately, and both are connected to form a contact wire with lead wiring so that the yield during manufacture is improved, the manufacturing time is shortened and the cost is decreased.
In order to achieve the above mentioned objects, the connection device of this invention for making electrical contact with array of electrodes of devices under test, such as semiconductor elements, and for performing an exchange of electrical signals is characterized by having a support member for supporting the connection device, a plurality of pointed contact terminals arrayed on the probing side, a multilayer film having a plurality of lead out wires electrically connected to the periphery of the contact terminals and a ground layer enclosing an insulation layer facing the plurality of lead out wires, a clamping member installed on the multilayer film to eliminate slack or drooping in the applicable area and a contact pressure means such as a spring probe for making the tip of each of the contact terminals contact each of the electrodes by applying contact pressure from the support member to the clamping member.
Also, in order to achieve the above mentioned objects, the connection device of this invention for making electrical contact with an array of electrodes of devices under test, such as semiconductor elements, and for performing an exchange of electrical signals is characterized by having a support member for supporting the connection device, a plurality of pointed contact terminals arrayed on the probing side, a multilayer film having a plurality of lead out wires electrically connected to the periphery of the contact terminals and a ground layer enclosing an insulation layer facing the plurality of lead out wires, a clamping member installed on the multilayer film to eliminate slack or drooping in the applicable area, a contact pressure means such as a spring probe for making the tip of each of the contact terminals contact each of the electrodes by applying contact pressure from the support member to the clamping member, and a compliance mechanism to make the support member engage with the clamping member so that the tips of the contact terminal group are arrayed in parallel with the electrode group terminal surface, when making the tips of the contact terminals contact the surface of the electrodes.
Further, in order to achieve the above mentioned objects, the connection device of this invention for making electrical contact with an array of electrodes of devices under test, such as semiconductor elements, and for performing an exchange of electrical signals is characterized by having a support member for supporting the connection device, a plurality of pointed contact terminals arrayed in an area on the probing side, a multilayer film having a plurality of lead out wires electrically connected to the periphery of the contact terminals and a ground layer enclosing an insulation layer facing the plurality of lead out wiring, a frame clamped so as to enclose the applicable area on the probing side and the rear of the opposite side on the multilayer film, a clamping member to install the frame having a portion to make the applicable area project out to eliminate slack in the multilayer film, a contact pressure means such as a spring probe for making the tip of each of the contact terminals contact each of the electrodes by applying contact pressure from the support member to the clamping member, and a compliance mechanism to make the support member engage with the clamping member so that the tips of the contact terminals are arrayed in parallel with the electrode group terminal surface, when making the tips of the contact terminals contact the surface of the electrodes.
Also, the connection device of this invention is characterized in that a cushioning device is installed between the clamping member and the rear sides of the area of the multilayer film.
The connection device of this invention has a multilayer film characterized in that the lead out wiring and the contact terminals are connected by metal such as solder or heat expansion metal or a conductive sheet of anisotropic shape.
The connection device of this invention has a multilayer film characterized in that the lead out wiring and the connective wiring formed in the contact terminals are connected by metal such as solder or heat expansion metal or a conductive sheet of anisotropic shape.
The connection device of this invention is characterized by having a circuit board mounted on the probing side of the support member, and the electrodes formed on the circuit board are electrically connected with the lead out wiring on the periphery of the multilayer film.
The test system of this invention is characterized by a connection device having a support means for a material support system to mount and support the device under test, a plurality of pointed contact terminals arrayed in an area on the probing side, a multilayer film having a plurality of lead out wires electrically connected to the contact terminals and a ground layer enclosing an insulation layer facing said plurality of lead out wires, a clamping member installed on said multilayer film so as to eliminate slack in the applicable area of the multifilm layer, a contact pressure means for making the tips of the contact terminals contact each of the electrodes by applying contact pressure from the support member to the clamping member, and further characterized by having a tester electrically connected to the lead out wires connecting to the periphery of the multilayer film of the connection device, a positioning means to align the positions of the contact terminal group arrayed in the multilayer film of the connection device and an electrode group arrayed on the device under test, and the position aligned electrode group is made to contact the contact terminal group aligned by the positioning means and exchange electrical signals between the tester and the device under to test to perform testing.
The test system of this invention is also characterized by a connection device having a support means for a material support system to mount and support the device under test, a plurality of pointed contact terminals arrayed in an area on the probing side and electrically connected to the lead out wires of the multilayer film by metal such as solder or heat expansion metal or a conductive sheet of anisotropic shape, and a multilayer film having a plurality of lead out wires electrically connected at the periphery to these contact terminals by way of metal such as solder or heat expansion metal or a conductive sheet of anisotropic shape and having a ground layer enclosing an insulation layer facing said plurality of lead out wires, a clamping member to install said multilayer film so as to eliminate slack in the applicable area of the multilayer film, and a contact pressure means for making the tips of the contact terminals contact each of the electrodes by applying contact pressure from the support member to the clamping member, and further characterized by having a tester electrically connected to the lead out wires connecting to the periphery of the multilayer film of the connection device, a positioning means to align the positions of the contact terminal group arrayed in the multilayer film of the connection device and an electrode group arrayed on the device under test, and the position aligned electrode group is made to contact the contact terminal group aligned by the positioning means and exchange electrical signals between the tester and the device under test to perform testing.
The test system of this invention is also characterized by a connection device having a support means for a material support system to mount and support the device under test, a plurality of pointed contact terminals arrayed in an area on the probing side and electrically connected to the lead out wiring of the multilayer film, and a multilayer film having a plurality of lead out wires electrically connected at the periphery to these contact terminals and having a ground layer enclosing an insulation layer facing said plurality of lead out wires, a clamping member to install said multilayer film so as to eliminate slack in the applicable area of the multifilm layer, and a contact pressure means for making the tips of the contact terminals contact each of the electrodes by applying contact pressure from the support member to the clamping member, and further characterized by having a tester electrically connected to the lead out wires connecting to the periphery of the multilayer film of the connection device, a positioning means to align the positions of the contact terminal group arrayed in the multilayer film of the connection device and an electrode group arrayed on the device under test, and the position aligned electrode group is made to contact the contact terminal group raised to a desired height on the material support system by the positioning means and exchange electrical signals between the tester and the device under test to perform testing.
Therefore, in the structure of the invention as described above, stable, low load probing of many pins disposed at a narrow pitch on a semiconductor device with a high electrode density can be performed without damage to the device under test, and, furthermore, a high speed exchange of electrical signals or in other words high frequency electrical signals (high frequencies from about 100 MHz up to some 10 GHz) can be achieved.
Also, in the above described structure of this invention, the compliance mechanism achieves a parallel array of pointed contact terminals without slack in the applicable area of the multilayer film so that the pointed contact terminal group makes stable contact with the electrode group of the device under test, and so that a downward pressure with a low load on each pin (approximately 3 to 50 mN) achieves a stable connection with a low resistance of about 0.05 to 0.1 xcexa9 and without generating debris from the electrode material, etc.
Further, in the above described structure of this invention, one or a plurality of semiconductor device from among a plurality of semiconductor devices (chips) arrayed on a wafer can simultaneously be stably and reliably contacted at a small contact pressure (about 3 to 50 mN per pin) on the oxidized surface of the electrodes, formed for instance of aluminum or solder with a stable and low resistance value of 0.05 to 0.1 xcexa9, and operational tests of each semiconductor device can be performed by the tester. In other words, the above structure of this invention can handle devices with a high electrode density as well as a narrow pitch, and they further can perform testing by simultaneous probing of many discrete chips and can also perform operational tests with high speed electrical signals (high frequencies from about 100 MHz up to some 10 GHz).
Also, in the structure of this invention, forming the contact terminal and the lead out wire separately from each other and then connecting both to form a lead out wire with the contact terminal improves the productivity during manufacture and achieves a connection device and test system with a shorter manufacturing time and a low price.